1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to mobile telephones, and more specifically to a mobile telephone having a single piece molded housing and method for its manufacture.
2. Description of the Related Art
Presently, housings of mobile telephones are used to provide structural, esthetical, and protective functions for the telephone. Such housings universally consist of two or more components or parts formed of a plastic material using an injection molding process. These components are then assembled together using fasteners such as screws, snap features, and the like to enclose and support the telephone's functional components.
The use of multiple-component housings in mobile telephones presents numerous design and manufacturing problems. For example, the manufacture of such housing components requires the design, production and maintenance of separate molding tools for each component. Further, the fit and quality of each housing component must be carefully controlled during design and manufacture for proper assembly. As a result, design and tooling costs for the production of such multiple component housings can be high. Moreover, the time required for the design of the internal and external features of the components of the housing and the design and manufacture of molding tools utilized for manufacturing such components can be undesirably long.
Complicating such design and manufacturing problems, the various housing components are often manufactured by parties other than the assembler of the mobile telephone. Thus, in a typical manufacturing process, such as manufacturing process 100 shown in FIG. 1, the components of a telephone's housing are molded, painted, and assembled by external sources (e.g., vendors, sub-contractors, or the like) prior to assembly of the telephone. For example, a molder 102 may produce housing components such as the upper case, lower case battery cover, display window, and the like for a mobile telephone. These components are then shipped to a painter 104 where they are painted and indicia such as keypad numerals, labeling, and the like are affixed as required. A housing sub-assembler 106 may then assemble the components into subassemblies (e.g., an upper case assembly and a lower case assembly) to which the functional components of the telephone may be attached during final assembly 108 prior to shipment 110 by the telephone manufacturer.